Hibou

I found my way to where the show was being held and was able to promptly get my pass along with a few other informative goodies. I was again, impressed with how organized this sign in process was. There wasn't a line to wait in and there wasn't any confusion or anything relating to misplaced paperwork or lost ticket orders. It was seamless. The signage was great as you can see through these pictures and then finally I had arrived at my destination... the dealer's room. Now there were a few forums that I was thinking of attending later in the evening of that day but I wasn't sure if I would be up for it. When I got onto the floor, I could see that not everyone was set up yet. Some vendors were still in the process of unpacking their goods and others just hadn't arrived yet as the table simply had a name assigned to a blank table. Now the first dealer I took some time with was Adventure House. They were the first vendor on the right as soon as you entered the room and they've become a favorite of mine lately based on two unique acquisitions obtained from them over the course of the past year. The first being a set of The Shadow rocks glasses and the second being a framed plaque of a Blue Coal / Shadow blotter... This table here was now going to be my first introduction to PulpFest and I was truly excited... and nervous. Because it was at this point, that I felt like I was suddenly way out of my league. These were seasoned pulp dealers and collectors that I was now dealing with and I was a mere novice at this genre. Now the further I progressed onto the sales floor, I became a bit more comfortable based on the amount of comics I was seeing as well... Golden Age as well as key Silver Age books. I wasn't expecting to see that. And finally, after wandering through the show for a bit, just to get a feel of where I was... this was when everything got a little surreal for me. Jim Steranko was here. As a dealer. Who hasn't admired Steranko's work? I certainly have and based simply on that, I assumed he was a larger than life personality... like 6 foot 8 inches larger than life. No, I never saw or met him in real life before, but here he was... setting up his table while mingling with pulp collectors as he is and has been one, himself. I was now almost 30-40 minutes into the opening of the show and I had taken a pretty good inventory of what was out and available. Jim Steranko's table was incredibly popular as soon as he started bringing boxes out and it quickly became pretty obvious to me that he certainly had a following. I made a mental note to myself to go back to his table after the crowds had subsided as I had known of his interpretations and work on various Shadow periodicals. I had identified a few other tables that I wanted to revisit and I instantly got drawn in to all of the original artwork that was on display there... I finally was able to collect my thoughts despite being a bit intimidated and overwhelmed at what I was seeing. Finally, I made my first purchase, but this again, reinforced the notion that I was in a strange new world here. I found a table that wasn't so packed with customers and was able to slowly browse through some titles. A lot of my research into the Street and Smith early Shadow years started to re-materialize in my head and I was able to make some connections based on what little I could remember. I found this completely dissolved pulp for $10 but I had a fairly good idea of what was contained inside and so I sought to purchase it. I looked around but couldn't find anyone to take my money for this pulp issue that I had just pulled out of a box. I must've looked really confused because someone then approached me and asked if I needed help. I answered that I just wanted to purchase this and this gentleman explained that this book belonged to "So and So" but he wasn't around. He said he would give him the money as they were friends. Oh yes, this is certainly a tight knit group of collectors... more-so than anything I had ever experienced on the comic collecting side. Another side note I made to myself, and this was a bit saddening to me, I noticed that this was most definitely an older group of collectors. Anyways, what was this amazing first $10 purchase of mine at my first PulpFest? Many will laugh but I felt like I had a win under my belt. It was this lonely issue of Street and Smith's : Love Story Magazine. Inside, as I was hoping there would be, was an advertisement for The Shadow Magazine before The Shadow had a recognizable image! Dated : February 13th, 1932 (Based on the condition, It was the perfect candidate to take out the ad and stick in a frame.)

We got the DoubleTree at 11:30am as I thought it would give me time to find where exactly the event was and where to pick up my show pass. My wife told me to take my time, have fun and to give her a call close to when I thought I'd be finished so she would have time to get back there as both my wife and my daughter had identified a few areas to go to as there were a few shopping plazas nearby. I walked in to the hotel and was impressed right away. It definitely looked bigger on the inside... And so I guess this is where it starts - the atrium of the DoubleTree in Cranberry Township at 11:32am on Thursday, August 3rd. (-95 hours : 30 minutes) ... ...

The hotel we spent the night at in Uniontown, PA offered a Continental Breakfast in the morning which was nice... the hotel we stayed at in New Jersey after picking up my daughter did not and cost over $100 more for the evening. I was quite impressed with the waffle maker and I think I had too much fun with that. We all had a good breakfast though between the waffles, eggs, toast, orange juice, coffee and various extras. I made sure to fill up the gas tank before we left Uniontown and started to make our way north up through Pittsburgh and then to Cranberry Township. I had plotted out a route that would be more direct but longer. Now if I remember correctly, the early bird access to PulpFest started at 11:45am on that Thursday.which gave up more than ample time to take the scenic route. I remember still being a bit troubled by the news surrounding my job from the previous afternoon and even though I had made a resolve to go through with attending, I was still calculating the various costs and repercussions. Perhaps I would scale back the amount of money I had set aside for this and just be content with that. Those thoughts partially occupied my mind as we listened to music, enjoyed some coffee, talked a bit and observed the scenery through this drive up Route 51. Once we got closer to Pittsburgh, it was becoming more congestive and more metropolitan looking but sill very rustic. I liked this look and feel a lot... almost immediately actually. For me it was a perfect combination of Industrial meeting Metropolitan. I believe I was trying to get to the Liberty Tunnel (coming off of Rte. 51) and got into a wrong lane and then attempted to backtrack in order to get into the proper lane. Now don't ask me how (now that I'm looking at a map of the area), but somehow I managed to get onto Arlington Ave and wasn't sure where that was leading to as it was a bit of a winding road. Suddenly, the view opened up and as it was unexpected, it was a bit breathtaking. I've seen metropolitan cites before and yes, the NYC skyline still is exciting to see after all these years, but there was just something different about seeing Pittsburgh from this vantage point. I had to stop to get out and take some pictures. Behind me, overlooking the city was this fantastic thin apartment or house (?) that was built right into the side of this cliff. I thought that would be a great place to live and I would love to be able to. I wish I had known then about Grandview Overlook as that seems to be the best spot to take pictures of the city. Eventually I got us on the opposite end of the Liberty Tunnel where it exchanges with the Liberty Bridge. Once crossing that, we made our way from Rte(s). 579 to 279 and then out of the metropolitan Pittsburgh area via Rte. 79 up to Cranberry Township. I would've loved to have been able to drive around Pittsburgh and do more sightseeing but I was worried about traffic and any construction. We were still making very good time... actually too good as we made it into Cranberry Township around 10am. It was far too early to check in to our hotel (I tried) so we had to drive around a bit. Again, the early bird doors for PulpFest opened at 11:45am so we had over an hour to fill. We found a Goodwill to kick through and then after that, I drove around in order for my wife to familiarize herself with the area as she would be dropping me off at the DoubleTree where the show was. The plan was for her to take my daughter to a few stores for a couple of hours while I attended the show and then by that time, we would be able to check into our hotel. By this time, now minutes before the opening, I told myself that I was going to go and enjoy the show as I had planned and not alter my state of mind, given the events and news from work. I was quite excited to get in...

I turned on the TV in the hotel room, early that Thursday morning, just to see what I had already known about the conditions regarding the Canadian fires. Sure enough, those fires had followed me down here. It was pretty obvious...

I remember walking around to all of the other stores we went to, especially the antique mall, feeling as if my head was in a cloud - detached from reality. What to do? It took many hours to sort through, but eventually I brought myself around to realize that this was all out of my control and up to this point, everything had worked out so perfectly. I had made every effort to get myself to this point... to get to this PulpFest and I would go through with it... as planned. I figured if the bottom was to fall out, as it looked like it was about to, I would summon my inner "Doctor Who" and find a way through it. Before we got back to the hotel for the night after picking up our daughter from her roommate's house, I got some wine for my wife and a small bottle of Scotch for myself. We weren't going to head back home after-all... in the morning (Thursday), PulpFest in Cranberry Township, PA. was going to be my destination.

My wife and I were about to go into another store when I got a text with an update from my work union regarding the proposed agreement that was very likely to pass. I read it twice in the car and a sudden sinking feeling set in... the way I was reading what was in the new contract... it sounded like I was set to lose $13 an hour. I told my wife that I would catch up with her soon as I had to make an immediate phone call to my union steward. After talking with him, he informed me that he wasn't sure if that would be the case with me as there were a handful of employees that came in to employment under COVID19 (Coronavirus Decemeber 2019). He said that there would be a meeting at the union hall on Sunday, August 6th and I could possibly find out more then. It was at this point, in Uniontown, PA., that I wanted to turn back home and forget all about PulpFest. If I was set to lose this much, there was no point in being here after my daughter's visit with her roommate. I was very depressed...

On Wednesday, August 2nd, my wife, my daughter and I all left early in the morning for our long 425 mile drive down to Uniontown, PA. Like I said, this was going to our longest road trip... many, many years ago my wife and I took a wonderful trip to Cape Cod, Massachusetts but that was shorter by around 50 miles. Our plan was to be able to get to Uniontown around 3-4pm in the afternoon so my daughter could spend a few hours with her college roommate who she hadn't seen since December of the previous year because of her spring 2023 semester being spent in Japan. Our plan worked out perfectly as we checked into our hotel right around 3:00pm and my daughter was able to freshen up a bit before we took her over to her college roommates house which was literally right across the highway. We could see her house from the hotel... Uniontown, PA is a pretty small town. It's very scenic there, however on that day, the smoke from the Canadian fires had made it's way down there so a lot of the scenery was obscured by the annoying haze. So far, everything was still going perfectly. It was so nice... After we dropped our daughter off, my wife and I found a local Goodwill, Target, Michael's and a mall that had a very nice antique mall within a mall, to go to. At one point I texted my daughter to tell her that I thought we were about to be banned from Uniontown because I wrecked this Taylor Swift quiz within Michael's that someone made... I was simply having fun and in such a good mood as I could just imagine the girl that created this, coming back into the store to see what (if any) the responses were and seeing this... wondering to herself, "What in the world....?!" Apparently, I even misspelled Sandwich, although I don't think I realized it then. Now I probably shouldn't have done this because it was shortly after, that everything suddenly turned - flipped like Two Face's coin.

"It's about war - and what he had to go through..." To be continued.

Well... I think I now know, as not everything is revealed to us when we initially do things Sometimes, it takes time for that.

Now I suppose, being able to look back upon this moment, there were a couple of things that should've stood out... I don't know... kind of like signs, maybe? These were the last two items I purchased before leaving for this vacation. The first being this book (a favorite of mine) that was offered up on Mercari at a price that was too good to ignore and the second being the Halloween Scarlet Witch from Sideshow that was advertised at a discounted price right before PulpFest. ] An underwater themed book and Elizabeth Olsen as the Scarlet Witch. But then there was the choice of that filler music for the intro of that BlueCoal / Shadow radio video... I picked Interstellar... Why?!

I guess I should add this in before I get too far down the road (pun intended). As I was on vacation for that week prior to PulpFest, I had some spare time to devote to thinking about some of my favorite new interests... primarily, my recent discovery at the site of the old Huber Breaker in Ashley, PA. and of The Shadow as well. Now back in February, I purchased a 1936 RCA Tombstone Radio (Model 8T)... thanks to my dearly departed mother-in-law. That will be a story for another time. When I received the radio, I could just imagine what it would've felt like to turn on that radio in 1937 and 1938, while pouring a glass of bourbon and settling in for the latest episode of The Shadow featuring Orson Welles! Well, in this twisted day and age that we find ourselves in, I figured I could fabricate that experience through the use of technology even if I had no idea how to start that process initially. And so, with those days that I had off from work, prior to departing for western Pennsylvania, I took it upon myself to figure out a way to try and replicate that feeling. I found a video editing app that seemed pretty intuitive and so I began to play around with it, for hours on end, until I was able to produce this very amateurish product. At the very least, I was happy with how the sound track layering came out. So we draw back the curtains of time... it's 1938. I just spent more than a weeks salary on this new radio produced by RCA with the Magic Eye and I'm about to pour a glass of bourbon and settle in for the latest episode of The Shadow. Well, that is after the announcement from the sponsor... BlueCoal. Of course, at the time of recording this... I had no idea why I was really doing any of it. Sometimes the things that seem so benign to us, actually have a much greater purpose that we can't and shouldn't be able to comprehend at that moment.

The Jeep was packed and I actually brought along a stocked cooler to stick in the back like it was 1978... that certainly helped us in terms of not making additional stops and saving a little bit of money on food.

Suffice it to say, I did not win the auction for a copy of New Mutants #98 for my stepson on that third attempt. And so, with that, I thought that I would take up this search after PulpFest and use those funds that I had secured from the Mexican Daredevil #1 sale and saved from not winning any of those auctions on NM98.

This is strange. I could've sworn that I've already wrote about this next important detail but unfortunately, as this computer likes to do to me so many times, I'll spend an hour or so writing and the PC will just randomly crash... losing all of the story that that I was hoping to post. So here we are... just days before PulpFest. I had been thinking of purchasing a replacement copy of New Mutants #98 for my stepson and had actually tried three times to secure a copy for him via eBay. I failed twice but gave it one last chance just days before I was to leave for our family vacation and for PulpFest. On that third attempt, I said to myself that if I couldn't get this copy, it might be a sign that I would find something at PulpFest to use those funds on and I would try again afterwards. So damn prophetic was that thought...

This is where I can now go back and connect an earlier journal entry. This one here... (From October 2nd, 2023) In order to do this correctly, I'm going to have to rewind the dreaded hands of time a bit further back than I had originally planned. I have to go back to the post where I talked about my son's copy of New Mutants #98 that I purchased for him, to replace the one that was stolen from him, decided to press it myself... submitted it to CGC and ultimately got a 9.4 on it. At the time, I thought it was a 9.0 book prior to pressing and I was really proud and happy to have been able to do that for him. Now if I remember correctly, that post kind of tied into the post regarding that copy of X-Men #4 and the first appearance of the Scarlet Witch. That story was one of my favorites to re-tell, to be honest. As it turns out, in a bizarre way, I saved that book in a way that I couldn't have imagined a couple of years ago. So last year, my son developed some health issues and was hospitalized for a couple of months. That was a very difficult time for all of us as we had to try to help him retain and maintain his apartment that he shared with his "friend" and roommate who, at the time, was unemployed. My wife and I did all we could to help him during these months and ultimately, my son got better and was able to return home... what we didn't realize at the time, was that for those couple of months that he was in the hospital and going through physical rehabilitation, pretty much everything that was of value to him, had been stolen. And that would include that CGC 9.4 copy of New Mutants 98.

The arrangements were made, the week arrived. I was just as excited for this trip as when my friend Rob was able to bring me to my first NYCC (New York ComicCon)... I believe I conveyed this to him the week before we left. I had no idea what to expect but what I did know is that this was going to be the longest road trip we've ever taken as a family, and as it had all been planned before (almost as if by design), this would put the new ShadowMobile thorough a healthy test! Hm. The car radio though... Yeah. It's the beginning of the end.

And once again...

Well... That 'miracle' came just a week before PulpFest was to begin as my union and management... ... came to a contract agreement! This was fantastic news to me as it broke the gates and allowed me to finalize this family vacation I had planned. It meant that, as the union was strongly endorsing this proposed contract, we would not be facing a strike and that I could go ahead with what I had planned months ago! The short version... Uniontown, PA and Cranberry Township, PA was a go... PulpFest was on! I don't think I could've logged on to the PulpFest site quick enough following this news. I wanted to get a room at the hotel that was hosting PulpFest but unfortunately, now, these were all booked. I would have to settle for a small local hotel nearby which was fine. I did sign up for the early access as it now seemed that coming back home on Saturday wouldn't work out as we were scheduled to watch our niece at a school play on that Saturday afternoon. What that meant is that I would have to get us back home sometime on Friday evening and that's where the early access pass to PulpFest would come in handy. Little did I know...

I don't think I can fall any further down into this underground abyss that I'm currently placing myself... but on-wards we'll continue. ... ... I've been repeating this concept through numerous entries now that so many things were lining up in a very peculiar way... almost as if by design. Of course I couldn't see this at the time, but now being able to reflect on the entirety of the year up to this point in July, it's very clear. Having been able to get these graded books back from CGC allowed me just enough time to be able to list the Mexican Daredevil #1 on eBay. I told myself that whatever I was able to get for that book, I would put into my trip to PulpFest in a couple of weeks. I believe I put it up for a 7 day auction. When the auction finally ended I was thrilled and shocked simultaneously. This was my first real win in terms of a purchase of a book with an immediate flip. When I saw what it went for, I immediately knew that this single transaction was basically going to pay for my trip to PulpFest but there was just one small (actually, rather huge) detail to iron out. You see, I had put in to take these two weeks off a while ago... the first week to be used to pick up my daughter in NJ, as she returned back home from Japan. Then the second week would be used to be able to bring her down to Uniontown, PA. in order to visit with her college roommate (whom she hadn't seen in months because of her overseas studies) and to connect it to a trip to Pittsburgh (Cranberry Township), PA. for PulpFest. Again, everything was just lining up so perfectly, almost as if it was predestined. Oh, that's such a hard word for me to wrap my mind around... Anyways, what I hadn't factored into this plan, all of those months ago when I initially planned all of this, was that my employment work contract was set to expire on July 31st and the threat of a union strike was now becoming very real as negotiations had been stalled. Throughout the later days of July, I was paying very close attention to this because it could possibly mean that even though I would still have my vacation time, there was now a strong possibility that I might have to go on strike once I returned and that was something I was so hoping would not happen. That meant that I couldn't make any solidified plans to go to Uniontown, PA or to attend PulpFest for that matter. Sure, I would still have a vacation but to be basically unemployed following that would mean that my vacation might have to be simplified to all of us staying home. This was very unsettling and disturbing for me as it left everything up in the air.

Right now I'm at that point were I felt like I couldn't stop writing on that night 3 months ago. The point where I had no idea... perhaps it was a manic reaction to something so dark. I know I'm stepping so dangerously close. This isn't intermission. This is something so much more...

I posted this before, actually in the middle of July, but this is what I wrote at the time... The 1948 comic, I was hoping for a 3.5 but expected a 3.0 ... I got a 4.5 The 1949 comic, I was hoping for a 8.0 but expected a 7.5 ... I got a 7.0 The 1966 comic, I was hoping for a 5.0 but expected a 4.0 ... I got a 6.0 That last one that's highlighted in red, that was the Daredevil #1 and I was beyond happy at the results of that one as that meant that my copy was now the second highest graded! Here are the books that I submitted back in June / July of this year (2023)... I know in years past I would write endlessly on that issue of Shadow Comics vol.9 #3 (the underwater Bob Powell cover)... I think I would even assign it a point value based on the overall composition and feel of the cover and elements within. Well, I'll just say that this particular book, with this particular cover, has a point scale value of... Awesome. ... ... But the book I was mostly excited about was that 1948 swamp cover. The reason behind that is probably because it hearkens back to another favorite swamp book of mine that I regrettably sold... All-American Comics #61 and the first appearance of Solomon Grundy. I just wish that CGC hadn't gone to this random process of placing these books in these right side formatted inner wells.

In the middle of June of this year (2023), I sent in three books to CGC to be graded. The aforementioned Mexican edition of Daredevil #1 along with two issues of Street and Smith's Shadow Comics with great Bob Powell covers. One of the issues is just a fantastic classic cover featuring The Shadow in the swamp and the other is a great underwater cover that I thought had some potential for a fairly mid to high grade. CGC listed the books as Received on June 28th and my hope was that I would be able to get these books back in time to be able to list the Daredevil and use whatever proceeds I got from that book for PulpFest. Again, when I first bought the book, I just thought it would be a nice novelty to stash away in my personal collection... but that idea changed when I saw a semi recent sale and what the book was listed at on eBay. Surprisingly, I got the books back on July 13th, just 15 days after they received them... they were submitted under the Vintage Fast Track tier.

So that was the week that was... the actual physical discovery and evidence of BlueCoal. Exactly two week before PulpFest. But as this had happened there was yet another fortunate event about to reveal itself relating to CGC. Some time ago, I mentioned that I had found a copy of the Mexican edition of Daredevil #1 at my local LCS for a very fair price. Well, once I looked up some comps on this book, I decided to send it in with a couple of other very important books. And that's worth yet another story!

So that one sliver in time... that one particular moment where I was able to experience the last final breathes of the ghost of this great industrial marvel that (again), in my mind, was responsible for that which was so important to me throughout my life... (yes, that's a bit dramatic) was made possible based from a whole sequence of events. Trying to untangle exactly where it was when these series of events first materialized would be more than enough to drive anyone mad. This is a bit of a departure but a story worth telling as it kind of reflects on this point. Many years ago now, as I was working (driving my truck where I was employed at the time), I was just a mere 15 minutes from my home terminal on route back from Erie, Pennsylvania. If I remember correctly, it was around September... I'm sure that I was listening to music - perhaps something like this... something new that I probably discovered accidentally while flipping through YouTube videos. Anyways, as I'm driving along the interstate, listening to good music while thinking about what I wanted to do as soon as I was off the clock... I approach an overpass. It's just an overpass. One that I pass everyday at this approximate time. Except on this day, there was something different. As I approached this overpass, I saw a young girl with a flannel over-shirt standing over the fenced area in complete tears. When you basically live on the road, you instinctively know what this is. As soon as I passed through the over pass, I pulled my truck over and immediately called 911. I informed them that there was a potential 'jumper' on I-90 at this particular mile marker. I informed the dispatcher that I was just a few yards away and could intervene. The dispatcher told me that there was a patrol just a mile away and that they would handle it. Nervously, I stayed on the line with this dispatcher as I watched this young girl from outside of my truck. Sure enough, in a matter of minutes, a state trooper showed up and I saw him exit his vehicle and approach the young girl. Once I saw that she was now on the 'safe' side of the interstate, I got back in my truck and proceeded to return back to my home terminal. For many weeks I thought of this girl and what may have been... But then I had to think back to how these series of events lined up in order to potentially save her life. This timeline that I constructed, ultimately led back to the moment that I decided to pursue a new career in truck driving... in the early 1990's. Do you see what I mean? And actually, that story and that decision goes further back in that time line as well. That's the part that can drive you mad. Is (was) your whole existence just to save the life of a random young girl that you'll never know?! So that was kind of my thought process as it relates to this miraculous discovery in Ashley, PA. at the old Huber Breaker, with the fortunate discovery of the actual BlueCoal dye.